If you have areas that are all crabgrass, you could spray them with Roundup and then around Sept. 1, rough up the soil around the area sprayed and reseed - the Roundup does not have what is called "soil activity", so it does not remain and prevent future germination. There is a product tha...

I think it is coincidence that you both pushed buttons at the same time, I do not believe this could cause a failure. I think the failure came later, i.e. after a couple of cycles. So the motor or gear train inside the box has likely failed. Try cycling the power, but if the wall-mounted (lighted) ...

You are not going to be able to get any significant amount of insurance at any kind of reasonable price without providing some type of evidence of insurability. That evidence will include a medical exam. It is like applying for a loan and not wanting to provide proof you have means to pay back the l...

Mammoth Cave is worth the trip. Buy your tickets in advance - nothing worse than getting there and not being able to get into the cave. I would recommend the Historic Tour just because it is neat to walk into the main entrance of the cave and then see some of the larger "rooms". If your ki...

There is also a technological revolution going on in the energy sector with new techniques for extracting previously unavailable petroleum reserves that is putting downward pressure on oil prices, which make up a large part of the commodities market. I do agree with you that current commodities pric...

Oil sitting on a shelf doesn't have other stuff in it from circulating through an engine. Especially in cases where the car doesn't get up to full operating temperature regularly, I think every six months is a good idea.

I think paying off a mortgage early is always a pretty decent idea. In terms of the bond funds, I think you are trying to predict a specific future and it may not pan out that way. As ogd points out, people have been predicting the slow bleed of rising rates for awhile now and it hasn't happened. He...

Turnover for TRP Blue Chip Growth is 32% according to Morningstar. That's pretty low. Turnover is a bigger killer of performance than Expense Ratio in my opinion. Blue Chip Growth holds, on average, larger and "growthier" stocks than Total Stock Market Index, so to the extent those have ou...

Depending on the size of your music library, you might be able to get by with a 32GB or 64GB flash drive instead. If you need more space, I would go with one of the portable external drives as opposed to the desktop models given your planned usage. Other than that, they are pretty much a commodity p...

The guidelines I have always seen are: 2/32 - replace 4/32 - replace if regularly driving in rain 6/32 - replace if regularly driving in snow I think I would probably go ahead and replace these before winter (all 4). OEM tires are generally pretty poor anyway and my experience and it's just not wort...

I know you have already decided to replace, but I was faced with a similar decision (same part) a couple of years ago on a 14 year old Jenn-Aire range and went the repair route. One, because the current gas ranges looked cheap to us (we have white and most of the focus is on stainless steel) and two...

I know you have already decided to replace, but I was faced with a similar decision (same part) a couple of years ago on a 14 year old Jenn-Aire range and went the repair route. One, because the current gas ranges looked cheap to us (we have white and most of the focus is on stainless steel) and two...

Not sure what climate you live in; where I live (Midwest), I would get a load of dirt delivered, fill in the depression and then put down grass seed and mulch with straw. Water every other day if it doesn't rain until it is long enough to cut. Done. A landscaper would be your best bet to do this kin...

I also discovered via the web that iOS eats space over time. I backed up my iPad to iCloud, reset it to factory settings and then restored it and freed up about 4GB. Might be something else to try - really improved mine. Interesting. I wonder if the same is true with an iPhone (though maybe on a sm...

Seems like you should be able to do this without iTunes: http://www.leawo.org/tutorial/how-to-delete-movies-on-ipad-to-free-up-storage-space.html Alternative Settings>General>Usage>Storage>Video>Tap Edit button>Delete movie I also discovered via the web that iOS eats space over time. I backed up my ...

This is similar to an easement, where you permit use of your property to another party, usually for a specifically stated purpose, while you retain ownership of the property. It is not an easement per se because ultimately once the wall is completed, the developer has no further need to use your pro...

Teletrade is gone now, acquired and merged into Stack's Bowers - stacksbowers.com Heritage Auctions is another source if you are looking for higher end coins - coins.ha.com I also buy on eBay but as hollowcave says, make sure you are very familiar with what you are buying - there's a lot of garbage ...

Another long time Quicken user, started in 1999 with Quicken for DOS 6.0 if I remember the version correctly. Invaluable tool for me; like others, I upgrade every 3 years and so will wait until 2016 as I am currently on 2013 Deluxe.

I once sold a computer CPU on eBay. Comparable items were going for around $80. I started mine at $45 with a buy it now of $80. I got an email from someone who said "will you accept $25?". No, I replied. Will you accept $30? No, value of this item is closer to $80+. Will you accept $35?. N...

There is a bit of a lottery aspect to this. You happened to work for a company that has had outstanding stock performance. That's great - congratulations for being a part of a successful company - America at its best really. In Cincinnati (where I live), there is a phenomenon called the "P&...

We recently bought a Bosch 500 series; I think the racking system and third rack is worth the extra cost over most of the Ascenta models. It's been wonderful so far. The Boschs use a condensing drying technique; there is no heated dry cycle - the heat of the dishes causes the moisture to condense on...

I have been seeing the stock split issue with Quicken 2013. Every time I do an update, it prompts me to accept an unrecorded stock split from 2007 for PG. When I accepted it the first time, it screwed up my account and share balance but I just went in and manually deleted the split transaction. Now ...

I have a Canon PowerShot SX260 HS that I like a lot, meets many of your requirements and is in your price range. It is a couple of years old so there may be an equivalent newer model or sometimes you can pick up a bargain on the slightly older models.

Based on past experience in consulting, including a stint in what was the "Big 8" morphing to the "Big 6" at the time, you can't really compare consulting and megacorp in my opinion. When you get promoted in a consulting position, your billing rate goes up, directly impacting rev...

I think "Independent" has given you some great information to compare against. I would point out that your housing expense / mortgage payment is high by choice. You have chosen a 10 year mortgage which will retire your debt very quickly. As long as you are also saving, it seems like you ar...

I am 6'5" and fit well into my 2005 Toyota Camry. I was even able to get the power sunroof which takes up headroom, so,my guess is that a Camry or Acord should work, especially if you skip the sunroof.

I don't think the OP is up to keeping native plants alive, imho. While grass is inferior, it's hard to kill. Turf grass in Northern California (which is where it sounds like the OP is from) is not going to be easy to establish in the middle of a four year drought and given the current water restric...

Are you sure about the $15k-18k estimate? You are only doing an area of a little over 3000 square feet. Although the 20x40 deck and the patio area will be more expensive; you could cut them down somewhat and do more hardscape or some green space suitable to California as a big green lawn area is pro...

Just to add on the peg board - there are some larger sized hooks that use multiple holes and spread the weight across the peg board, allowing you to hang larger or heavier items. I have my Stihl trimmer and an 8 pound railroad pick hanging on the peg board, for example. Not saying that is always the...

If you are going to run a Cayman at the track, you are going to need to plan for tires at least every other year if not yearly depending how much you drive it. I had a buddy who had a Carerra S4 and tires for it ran $2000+ and they were good for about 20k. Are you able to do your own maintenance? Oi...

If you spend some time at Lowe's or Home Depot in the shelving section and the hardware / screws / nuts and bolts section, you will likely find many options. In addition to peg board, I have used wire closet type shelving, a wooden peg system designed for vertical hanging (shovels, rakes, etc.), han...

My employer produces a statement at year end that lists the dollar amount of all benefits provided, including salary, healthcare, time off, 401k, pension, etc. For my pension, the amount varies between 10-12% of salary every year. You might do some research around percent of salary contribution for ...

Looks like $1200 to repair a dead compressor and other parts if it has disintegrated. Garage was well aware of the "Black Death" problem. Probably won't do it, but I'm not sure how much that will knock off the resale or trade-in value of the vehicle. My guess is that it knocks about $1200...

There are not a lot of WWII battlefield sites to see in France beyond Normandy because once the Allies broke out (Operation Cobra), they mostly raced to the German border before they outran their supply lines and had to halt their advance. The links BW1985 posted give a pretty good idea of where to ...

Opus One is a big name; the is also Rothschild from France if you want a true Bordeaux. Another nice gift idea if you want to add some pizazz is to buy a nice bottle of wine and pair it with some high end stemware from Reidel to appeal to the truly discerning palette that does not just let any glass...

Be sure that whatever tool you are using to get a Blue Book value takes condition and mileage into account. In my experience, low mileage used cars carry a premium that the common Blue Book sources underestimate.

There's nothing wrong with a little smiley guy here, or a platform with wheels there, but NOT the kind of kit that has an instruction sheet with it to how to build Olaf's Sparkling Igloo. I do agree that some of those kits can be pretty complicated. But my faith in the creative process was renewed ...

Stocks have been known to have periods of -50% real return (or greater). Positive returns from stocks are no guarantee. There may be a time when you are more than happy that your bond principal is still largely intact. That's why I hold bonds, regardless of the current weather forecast.

Even with a fund as large as this one, it is not always practical or possible to purchase every bond in the exact ratio needed to replicate the index, so techniques are used to approximate the index by buying a subset of the securities held in the index in order to approximate the overall index whil...